Rail straightener



March so, 1926. 1,578,381

' L. W. BAKER RAIL STRAIGHTENER Filed August 20, 1925 WITNESSES v lNvENoR mycdlffim taw ATTORNEYS To all wit omit may concern:

Patented Mar. 30, 1926.

LLOYD WARREN BAKER, onBLn-E RArIns, KANSAS. r

BLAIL srnaren'rn'nnn,

' "Ap ncaimi' md August 2o, 1925. Serial na'fsi rm;

Be it known that I, LLOYD ER, a citizen offthe United States, and aresident of 'Blue Rapids, in the, county of Marshall and State ofKansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in BailStraighteners, of which the following is a specification:

My invention relates to improvements in rail straighteners or bendersandit consists rangements-herein described and'claiined. An object ofthe inventionis the provi- V rail or alike member which' offers arelative-' sion'of a'simple, reliableand easilyoperable device whichaflfords facilities for making useiof a relatively slight force to benda ly great resistance to a bending stress:

. A further object of the invention is the' provision of a device of thecharacter described which can beused to" bend ashort length *of rail'which is secured at spaced points on ties orother supports withoutremoving the rail from" itssupports and in two adjacent supportingmembers to which the rail issecured'.

Other objects andadvantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing the accompanying drawings, in which Figure .1. is-aperspective viewof the improved rail bending device applied to ajrail,

Figure 2 is ahorizontal section taken on a plane extending through therail engaging I members of the device, the rail'bein'g shown in plan.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view 7 ,"taken substantially alongthe line of Figure 1. i

The body of the improved rail straightening device is ofsubstantiallyinverted U shape as shown in Figure l" and comprises theweb portlon 1 and a palr of arms 2 and respectively. The end portions ofthe arms 2 and 3 may be enlarged laterally as in- VIGB.

and 3 of thearms ofthe body of the device are formed with-alignedlateral c'ut oiits or such manner as to brace the rail betweendescription, considered infconjuncti'on with on the latter. H

. p recesses lt-and 5 respectively which-resp ec WARREN BAntively areopen atflopposite sidesof the body of the device and constitute seatsforthe reception of spaced portions of a rally- 6i or other similarelongated member;

" The upper and lowerlwalls of each ofthese seats 4 and 5 are'horizontaland parallel to it with each other while the inner or back-wall of theseat is'vertical andgat right angles to" v t v I j said upper and lowerwalls of the seat. in the combinations, constructions and 'ar-' the armstof s aid-body asindicatedatT and,

this flattened portion has a verticalopening 8 formed :the'rethrough;The, wall of the vertical opening 8 has screw threads for engaging withthe external'screwlthreadson P the shankof an operating rod 9 l Theoper'ating rod 9 inay'have an enlarged upperpend portion 10 having aplurality of di a'metijical' openings 11 formed therethrough;fl A-handieor cross bar 12 can belprojected through" any one of the openings 11jin'the upper end portion of the op'erating'rod and the ends of thishandle'or cross bar thenmay be conveniently grasped andmanipulated toturn the operatingrodl The peripheral face of the enlargedupperendportion 10' of the operating rod fmay be knurled or otherwiseroughened as indicatedat 13 so thatthisen- 'larged upper end portion ofthe operating rod may be grasped "firmly in the hand of' an operator andthe "operating rod turned for a i time without the useof the cross"bar-or hantile. 12 during each complete operation ofthe device, as'willhereinafter be made apparent. I v

The; lower end' po'rtion of the operating rod 9 extends througha'vertical opening in then-eh portion 14 of a pullerhea d whichcomprises apair ofv arms 15 which are inte gral with the web, 14. Theoperating rod movement'iin respect to the web'14 by an upper-collar 16which issecu'red onthe opcrating rodiclose to the upper face} of the'also is substantially ofinver'te dU sha-pe and I can turn freely in theopenin'gin the webil t but is held 7 against any appreciable .axialthelower end portion-of theioperatingirod' v H v H V s underneath theweb 1 10f the puller member; The respective "enlarged end portions 2 O0Web 14 and a flange 1 7,which is fo'rinedona I I v A' 'pusher head isprovided atthe'lower end-of the operating rod. This pusher head may beinthe-form of an annular member or collar 18which is disposed on theextreme lower end portion of theoperating rod and abuts the flange 17 atits upper end while the lower end of the collar 18 is flush with thelowerend of the operating rod and the collar 18 is turnable on theoperating rod but" is held against displacement from posltloni The arms16 of the pulleranember aretwisted slightly soithat the lower endporsides of the tions thereof extend laterally of opposite their lowerends with inturnedflugs '21, each of which isvof s'ubstantlal length.

' various parts ofthe device, the operation thereof may be readilyunderstood."Let,it'

turneduntila pull upward isexerted .onuthe' weblof theipuller' headbyreason oii'the engagement of' the threaded operating rod be assumedthat a portion ofthe railf6 bei i tween; adjacent ties or-like supportsis depressed. The arms 3 ofthe body of'the device are placed atoppositesides of the ra1l and the body. ,ofthe device then is turned sothat portions of the rail at opposite sidesof the'downwardly bentportion of the rail "enter andengage with the seats 4 and; 5; Thearins,:15 ofthe puller head of the device are disposed atopposite sidesof the rail: and this puller headi's turned about the axis of theoperatingrod 9 until the lugs "21 are disposed underneath the basefiange' of' the rail. The operating rod 9 then is or screw-with the-fwebportionjofthe bodypull on the rail will continue so long as j thescrew 9is turned in a'counter clockwise direction. A relatively'slight' forcethus can be'exerted to cause a relatively great {upward pull on thedownwardly bent or-de V pressed portion" of the rail andf this pull outthere being any necessityof removing the "rail fromthe ties'to which'itis secured normally.- Should it be desired. to bend the rail downward,the, screw 9 is turned in a rail to be effected and continued turning:of the screw 9 in a clockwise direction will cause the rail to benddownward as desired.

It is obvious that the device-can herein-f ployed to bend other membersas well as 5 vertical plane extending through the web portion 14 of thepuller member diametrically of the opening in such web. The arms. 15are,pro vided at I V forturni'ngwthe screw.- 7 will be suflicient tostraighten the rail ,withrails and that the device he turnedion 1 itsside and utilized to effect bendingof zontal plane as well as in avertical plane. Obviously, my invention is susceptible of embodiment informs other than that illus-,

trated herein'and- I therefore consider as my own all such modificationsand adaptations thereof as fairly fall within the scope of the appendedclaims. I v

' I claim:'

a rail or other elongated member in a hori- 1. A rail-bendingdevicecomprising a body 1 sides oi the body for the reception of spacedportions of a rail, said body having .a

threaded opening through the web portion *thereof intermediate the endsof said arms,

a screw in threadedengagen1ent with the wall of said threaded opening,apuller head;

of inverted U -shape having an opening n the web portion thereofthroughwhich the I V 7 lower end portion of said screw extends, From theforegoing-descr1pt1oi1-oithe means n said screw preventing axial movement ofthe webiof thepullerjheadonthe screw, the arms of said pullerheadi having' inwardly turned lower end portions adapted to extend fromopposite sides of the rail underneath the base flange otthe rail. V

2. A rail bending device comprising a. body of substantially invertedu-shap'efthe arm portions of said body having lateral seats adjacenttotheir extremities at opposite sides. ofthe body, for-thereception' ofspaced p'orti on's of-a rail, said body having head :.0f invertedU-shape having an ropening in the web portion thereof through which thelower end portion :of saidscrew extends, means on; said screw.preventing I I "axial" movement I offthe web of the puller ofthedevifce. It is obvious'that'the upward head onthe screw, thearms ofsaid puller headhaving inwardly turned lower end" portions adapted toextend from opposite s des of the: rail, underneath the base flangeofthe rail, and a handle engageable with the upper end portion of saidscrew 3., A grail bendingdevice comprising a 7 body of substantiallyinverted U-shape,".the arm portions of said body havingila' teral seatsadjacent to their-extremities" at oppo= site sidesofthe b'ody forthereception'of spaced portions of" ,a rail, said body having a threaded"opening through theweb poringin the web portion thereo'fl throughwhich'fthe'lower end portion of said screw extends, means on said screwpreventing in g twisted to extend laterally ofopposite axial movement ofthe Webof the puller sides of a vertical plane extending longi-T head onthe screw, the arms of said puller tudinall of the web ofthe puller headand head having inwardly turned lower end 'diametrlcally of the openingin the web of 5 portions adapted to extend from opposite the pullerhead.

sides of the rail nnderneath the base flange i a I 1 i of the rail, thearms of said puller head be- V LLOYD ,WARREN BAKER.

